KG Russell Photography: Saying Goodbye to a Wonderful Women, my Mother!

On Friday June 20, 2014 my mother, Kathleen, went home to her Lord and Savior.We had just celebrated her 54th birthday 2 weeks prior and am glad that we had that day with her. For three and a half years she had a diagnosis of Parkinson's, but December 2013 the doctors changed her diagnosis to MSA. MSA stands for Multiple Symptom Atrophy. She passed in her home, with many family and close friends coming for visits during the two weeks prior to her passing. She made a choice to donate her body to science, hoping that future doctors could learn about her disease.

She was a breast cancer survivor of 10 years. My sister was married in September of 2003 and I was married in June of 2004. In between the two weddings she was diagnosed and went through her chemo treatments. Her last treatment given the weekend before my wedding. When I went to her and said that we would postpone the wedding until the fall of 2004 she refused to allow me to do so.

She was the type of women who always thought of others first, was always willing to drop what she was doing and help a friend in need. She had a beautiful smile and an infectious laugh. She loved to dance and could always be found on the dance floor at any function. She loved to dance around the house with her grandchildren. She was a creative women and loved to try out new craft ventures.

She was a single mom for many years, raising my sister, Becky, and I. She met the love of her life 25 years ago and they had my sister Samantha. During those times as a single mom she never gave up. She was always there to guide us and teach us right from wrong. She was a wonderful mother and grandmother. My friends always called her mom and she always made them welcome in our home. She would say that she did not just have three daughters but more like 6 or 8 or 10!

She was the youngest of 6 children and loved by all of her siblings. From stories that we heard while we were growing up it sounded like all of her siblings doted on her. Even as an adult you could see the love that they had for their "baby" sister.

To say that life will ever be the same again is an understatement! There will forever be a hole inside of me that will never be filled again. I am just glad that I had the opportunity to sit with her and tell her how much I loved her and that I was glad that God gave her to me as my mother. To thank for all the things that she gave and taught me. Even those things that I learned from watching her. To tell her that she was a wonderful grandmother too. That she was my super hero. She put her all into everything that she did and never gave up on anything. Even having that opportunity to tell her those things did not make the lose any easier.

The only was that I can explain how I feel is to say that I have this feeling of being "orphaned". Maybe that is not a good thing to say or the proper word to use. But that is the best word that I can use to explain the hole that is now inside of me. I know that it is not true as I have my sisters and my dad. I have my husband and my children. I have my grandmother, aunts, uncles, and cousins. I also have my in-laws. But I will never have my mom again. The person that you turn to when you are hurt and feel like a child again. The person who bandaged my bo-bos, who hugged me through broken hearts, and praised me for my accomplishments.

I wanted to share some photos that I have of her. I am having some difficulty with all my burnt cds telling me that the images are not on them. I do have three to share now though. I will post more when I get more loaded onto my computer. But I wanted to get this posted since it has already been 4 days.

Two of the images are my mother with her siblings and mother and then the siblings, their spouses and her mother. These were taken about 5 years ago at my grandmothers 80th birthday. The other is of my mom and her granddaughter, my daughter. Both of these images are of her after she had breast cancer.